Talking toy vehicle

ABSTRACT

A toy vehicle which moves forward along a drawstring toward a stationary pull ring as the phonograph plays, comprising a spring-powered phonograph within the vehicle that is wound by pulling out the drawstring. The drawstring retracts into the phonograph as a record is played, so the phonograph acts like a winch to move it along the drawstring. The phonograph includes a tone arm with a needle for playing the record, and a separate lift arm that lifts the tone arm and needle from the record and carries them to the periphery of the record as the drawstring is pulled.

United States Patent [72] Inventors JamesE.Ma1shall Westminster; AnsonSims, Redondo Beach, both of, Calif. [2]] Appl. No 848,661 [22] FiledAug. 8, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 24, 1971 [73] Assignee Mattel, Inc.

Hawthorne, Calif.

[54] TALKING TOY VEHICLE Primary Examiner- Louis G. Mancene AssistantExaminer-A. J. Heinz Attorney-Seymour A. Scholnick ABSTRACT: A toyvehicle which moves forward along a drawstring toward a stationary pullring as the phonograph plays, comprising a spring-powered phonographwithin the vehicle that is wound by pulling out the drawstring. Thedrawstring retracts into the phonograph as a record is played, so thephonograph acts like a winch to move it along the drawstring. Thephonograph includes a tone arm with a needle for playing the record, anda separate lift arm that lifts the tone arm and needle from the recordand carries them to the periphery of the record as the drawstring ispulled.

TALKING TOY VEHICLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention relates to phonograph toys, and moreparticularly, to a novel toy vehicle that is moved by a phonographmechanism therein.

2. Description of the Prior Art The entertainment value of many toys canbe enhanced by constructing them to perform additional functions whenoperated in the same simple manner by which they previously performedonly one function. One type of toy which would be more entertaining ifit performed additional functions, is a vehicle of a type which has adrawstring that can be pulled out, so that when the vehicle is releasedit moves along the string toward the childs stationary hand. The vehiclecould be more interesting if it could be made to perform additionalentertaining functions without requiring operation other than pullingout the string OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of thepresent invention is to provide a toy vehicle which can be operated in asimple manner to move and talk.

Another object is to provide an economical and entertaining toy vehicle.

In accordance with the present invention, a toy vehicle is providedwhich contains a spring-operated phonograph which plays as the vehiclemoves forward. The phonograph is wound by holding the vehicle andpulling the drawstring away from the front of the vehicle. When thevehicle is then released, the phonograph plays as the vehicle movesforward along the drawstring to draw the string into the vehicle.

In one embodiment of the invention, the phonograph includes a tone armwith a needle, or stylus, that engages a spiral groove in a record. Aseparate lift arm is included which lifts the tone arm and carries it tothe outer edge of the record as the drawstring is pulled out. Theseparate lift arm isolates the tone arm from the drawstring, so thatdrawstring tension, which is present as the vehicle is pulled forwardalong the string, does not tend to lift the tone arm from the record.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity inthe appended claims.

The invention will best be understood from the following descriptionwhen read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toyvehicle constructed in accordance with the invention, showing its mannerof operatron;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the toy vehicle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the phonograph mechanism of thetoy vehicle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of the phonograph mechanism of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates a toyvehicle constructed in accordance with the invention, including avehicle frame 12 with four wheels 14, the frame representing a steamlocomotive. A phonograph within the vehicle fame is wound by pulling adrawstring 16 away from the front of the vehicle. This can beaccomplished by a child who grasps a pull ring 18 in one hand H whileholding the vehicle frame in his other hand. so that the pull ring canbe drawn away from the front of the vehicle. With the drawstring pulledout, the child places the vehicle on a table top or on the ground, andreleases the vehicle while holding the pull ring 18 stationary. Thevehicle 10 then slowly moves along the drawstring 16 toward the pullring, while a phonograph within the vehicle plays a sound recording.

As shown in FIGS. 2-5, a phonograph 20 is mounted within the vehicleframe, the phonograph having a housing 22 mounted on a lower portion 24of the vehicle. The phonograph includes a turntable 25 with adisc-shaped record 26 that is rotated by a spring motor 28. The motor iswound by pulling on the drawstring 16, most of the string beinginitially wound on a drum 32 of the turntable. When the drawstring 16 ispulled, it rotates the turntable in a reverse direction opposite to aforward-indicating arrow F, while the string unwinds from the drum 32.During such reverse rotation of the turntable, the spring 28 unwindsfrom a spool 34 and is wound onto a spring barrel 36 on the turntable.When the drawstring is released, the spring turns the turntable in theforward direction indicated by arrow F, while the drawstring 16 isrewound on the string drum 32 of the turntable.

The record 26 has a spiral groove that extends from a peripheral portion38 of the record to a radially inner portion 40 of the record. Therecord is played by pickup means including a tone arm 42 which has aneedle or stylus 44 that can engage the record groove. The tone arm 42is pivotally mounted on a shaft 46 that is fastened to the phonographhousing, so that the stylus can move radially across the record. Thestylus 44 first moves radially out while held above the level of therecord, until it reaches a position near the periphery 38. The stylusmust then fall into the spiral groove and follow along it as the recordrotates, until the stylus reaches the end of the groove near the innerportion 40 of the record. The vibrations picked up by the stylus as itmoves along the record groove are transmitted through a speaker armature48 to a speaker cone 50 that acoustically amplifies the sound so that itis of substantial volume and can be easily heard.

The speaker armature 48 is spring biased toward the tone arm, so that iturges the stylus 44 into the record groove. Thus, as the spring rotatesthe record, the stylus moves slowly, radially inwardly along the spiralrecord groove. When the pull ring 18 is pulled to wind the spring, thetone arm 42 must be lifted while moved radially outward to the peripheryof the record, and must then be allowed to move down into the recordgroove. Such movement of the tone arm is accomplished by a lift arm 52that is pivotally mounted on the same shaft 46 on which the tone arm ismounted.

The lift arm 52 has'an outer end 54 with an aperture 56 therein throughwhich the drawstring 16 extends. The drawstring also extends through afirst guide 58 that is located above the level of the record, and asecond guide 60 that leads the string from the first guide to a locationwhere it can be easily pulled away from the vehicle. As the drawstringI6 is pulled during winding of the phonograph, friction between thestring and the walls of the lift arm aperture 56 tends to move the liftarm along with the string. The outer end 54 of the lift arm thereforetends to move radially out toward the peripheral portion 38 of therecord. In addition to moving the lift arm radially outwardly, thedrawstring tends to lift the lift arm away from the record. This liftingis due to the fact that the drawstring 16 extends upwardly toward thefirst guide 58, so that when the string is taut, the outer end of thelift arm tends to move up an incline as it moves toward the first guide58.

As the lift arm 52 is moved upwardly and outwardly during pulling of thedrawstring, it engages the tone arm 42 to also move it up and out. Thelift arm has a lug 62 that engages an outer portion 64 of the tone armto hold it up and carry it radially out. As shown in FIG. 5, the lug 62has a surface 628 which is angled to face upwardly and outwardly, and itis adapted to contact an inclined surface 645 on the outer end of thetone arm which faces downwardly and radially inwardly. Theseorientations of the lug 62 and outer end of the tone arm 64 allow thelift arm to carry the tone arm up and out. When the tone arm reaches theperiphery 38 of the record, it is stopped by a cam 66. The recordgenerally carries several parallel spiral grooves, and the camdetermines which of the grooves will be engaged by the stylus when itmoves down against the record. In the case of a record with only asingle record groove, a simple post can be used to stop the tone arminstead of the cam 66.

When the drawstring 16 has been pulled out all the way and the vehicleis released, the drawstring can begin to be rewound on the turntabledrum 32 as the spring 28 rotates the turntable in the forward direction.As the drawstring moves inwardly for rewinding on the turntable drum,friction between the string and the walls of the lift arm aperture 56causes the string to pull the lift arm radially inwardly. The tone arm42 does not move inwardly with the lift arm. Instead, the outer end 64of the tone arm slips off the lift arm lug 62, and the stylus is pusheddown by the spring loaded speaker armature 48 until the stylus engages arecord groove near the periphery 38 of the record. Inasmuch as the liftarm moves inwardly without the tone arm, the tone arm is not urgedradially inwardly by the inward movement of the drawstring, and is notheld above the record by the tension in the drawstring. Thus, the liftarm is coupled to the tone arm to move it up and out, but is uncoupledfrom the tone arm as the lift arm moves inwardly during vehicle movementand record playing. In order to facilitate vehicle movement along thestring, the second guide 60 is located near the bottom of the vehicleand is oriented so that the string leaves the guide 60 in a generallyforward direction. The vehicle moves at a moderate speed along thedrawstring, and in a stable manner.

Thus, the invention provides a simple toy vehicle and phonographmechanism, wherein a single spring motor is used to operate thephonograph and move the vehicle along the string. The toy is not only ofsimple construction, but both the vehicle-moving and phongraph-playingfunctions are controlled in a simple manner, by merely pulling on astring.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variationsmay readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it isintended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications andequivalents.

What is claim is:

l. A toy sound-producing vehicle which moves toward a child who holdsthe end of a drawstring as a phonograph thereon plays, comprising:

- a toy vehicle frame having a forward end and a rear end and freelyrotatable wheels for supporting said vehicle on a surface; and

a phonograph mounted on said frame, said phonograph including a record,pickup means for playing said record, a spring motor for moving saidrecord relative to said pickup .means, a drawstring extending forwardlyfrom said forward end, and means for coupling said drawstring to saidmotor to wind said motor as said drawstring is pulled forwardly out ofsaid frame and to draw in said drawstring as said motor unwinds, saiddrawstring having an outer end for grasping by a child so that the motorpulls the vehicle forwardly while simultaneously operating saidphonograph; said pickup means comprising a movable tone arm, aseparately movable lift arm means for engaging said tone arm to hold itaway from said record, said lift'arm means having an aperture forreceiving said drawstring, and guide means for positioning saiddrawstring in a path to urge said lift arm means away from said recordwhen said drawstring is taut. 2. The toy sound-producing vehicledescribed in claim 1 wherein:

said record comprises a substantially spiral record groove;

and said pickup means comprises a tone arm with a stylus for engagingsaid record groove to follow it inwardly as said motor rotates saidrecord, said lift arm including drawstring-engaging means for outwardmovement as said drawstring is pulled out and inward movement as saiddrawstring moves in, whereby to allow said lift arm to move said tonearm out as said drawstring is pulled out while allowing said tone arm tofollow said spiral record roove inwardly. 3. lhe toy soun -producingvehicle described in claim 2 wherein:

said tone-arm-engaging means on said lift arm includes means defining asurface which faces radially outwardly and away from said record, saidsurface positioned to contact said tone arm as said lift arm moves out.

4. The toy described in claim 1 wherein:

said phonograph includes a turntable coupled to said spring motor, saidrecord being on said turntable and having a spiral record groove, with aradially outward beginning portion, a tone arm with a stylus forengaging said groove, and tone-arm-engaging means coupled to saiddrawstring for moving said tone arm radially outwardly toward thebeginning of said record groove as said drawstring is pulled out fromthe front of said vehicle.

5. The toy described in claim 1 where:

said phonograph includes a turntable coupled to said spring motor, saidrecord being on said turntable and having a spiral record groove, tonearm means including a stylus for engaging said record groove, andtone-arm-moving means for engaging said tone arm means to push itradially out, said moving means having an aperture for receiving saiddrawstring to allow said string to drag said moving means radially outand in as said drawstring moves out and in from said vehicle frame.

6. The toy described in claim 1 wherein:

said phonograph includes a turntable coupled to said spring means, saidrecord being on said turntable and having a record with a spiral recordgroove and a string-receiving drum for receiving said drawstring as itis drawn into said vehicle frame, a tone arm pivotally mounted on saidphonograph with a stylus for engaging said record groove to moveradially inwardly along it as said record is turned by said motor means,a lift arm pivotally mounted on said phonograph with a tone-arm-engaingsurface for pushing said tone arm outwardly and away'from said recordand walls defining an aperture for receiving said drawstring to enablesaid drawstring to drag said lift arm outwardly and inwardly, and guidemeans for holding a portion of said drawstring which extends throughsaid lift arm aperture in a path that urges said walls of said lift armaperture away from said record when said drawstring is taut, whereby toenable said lift arm to move said tone arm outwardly while holding saidstylus away from said record, as said drawstring is pulled.

1. A toy sound-producing vehicle which moves toward a child who holdsthe end of a drawstring as a phonograph thereon plays, comprising: a toyvehicle frame having a forward end and a rear end and freely rotatablewheels for supporting said vehicle on a surface; and a phonographmounted on said frame, said phonograph including a record, pickup meansfor playing said record, a spring motor for moving said record relativeto said pickup means, a drawstring extending forwardly from said forwardend, and means for coupling said drawstring to said motor to wind saidmotor as said drawstring is pulled forwardly ouT of said frame and todraw in said drawstring as said motor unwinds, said drawstring having anouter end for grasping by a child so that the motor pulls the vehicleforwardly while simultaneously operating said phonograph; said pickupmeans comprising a movable tone arm, a separately movable lift arm meansfor engaging said tone arm to hold it away from said record, said liftarm means having an aperture for receiving said drawstring, and guidemeans for positioning said drawstring in a path to urge said lift armmeans away from said record when said drawstring is taut.
 2. The toysound-producing vehicle described in claim 1 wherein: said recordcomprises a substantially spiral record groove; and said pickup meanscomprises a tone arm with a stylus for engaging said record groove tofollow it inwardly as said motor rotates said record, said lift armincluding drawstring-engaging means for outward movement as saiddrawstring is pulled out and inward movement as said drawstring movesin, whereby to allow said lift arm to move said tone arm out as saiddrawstring is pulled out while allowing said tone arm to follow saidspiral record groove inwardly.
 3. The toy sound-producing vehicledescribed in claim 2 wherein: said tone-arm-engaging means on said liftarm includes means defining a surface which faces radially outwardly andaway from said record, said surface positioned to contact said tone armas said lift arm moves out.
 4. The toy described in claim 1 wherein:said phonograph includes a turntable coupled to said spring motor, saidrecord being on said turntable and having a spiral record groove, with aradially outward beginning portion, a tone arm with a stylus forengaging said groove, and tone-arm-engaging means coupled to saiddrawstring for moving said tone arm radially outwardly toward thebeginning of said record groove as said drawstring is pulled out fromthe front of said vehicle.
 5. The toy described in claim 1 where: saidphonograph includes a turntable coupled to said spring motor, saidrecord being on said turntable and having a spiral record groove, tonearm means including a stylus for engaging said record groove, andtone-arm-moving means for engaging said tone arm means to push itradially out, said moving means having an aperture for receiving saiddrawstring to allow said string to drag said moving means radially outand in as said drawstring moves out and in from said vehicle frame. 6.The toy described in claim 1 wherein: said phonograph includes aturntable coupled to said spring means, said record being on saidturntable and having a record with a spiral record groove and astring-receiving drum for receiving said drawstring as it is drawn intosaid vehicle frame, a tone arm pivotally mounted on said phonograph witha stylus for engaging said record groove to move radially inwardly alongit as said record is turned by said motor means, a lift arm pivotallymounted on said phonograph with a tone-arm-engaing surface for pushingsaid tone arm outwardly and away from said record and walls defining anaperture for receiving said drawstring to enable said drawstring to dragsaid lift arm outwardly and inwardly, and guide means for holding aportion of said drawstring which extends through said lift arm aperturein a path that urges said walls of said lift arm aperture away from saidrecord when said drawstring is taut, whereby to enable said lift arm tomove said tone arm outwardly while holding said stylus away from saidrecord, as said drawstring is pulled.